We report on the growth of planar/patterned Fe thin films on InAs(100) substrates and their subsequent characterization using reflection high-energy electron diffraction, low-energy electron diffraction, superconducting quantum interference device, and four-terminal contact resistance measurements. Epitaxial growth of body-centered-cubic Fe crystal on InAs(100) was verified for growth temperatures of 23 degreesC and 175 degreesC. A patterned Fe wire array showed clear uniaxial shape anisotropy with the easy axis along the wire direction. Its coercive force was found to depend on the growth temperature and the width of the Fe wires. Four-terminal contact resistance measurement of Fe/n-InAs revealed that Fe forms decent ohmic contact to the InAs substrate with a resistivity of the order of 10(-6) Omegacm(2). Samples crown at room temperature showed equally decent or even better magnetic and electrical characteristics than those obtained by higher temperature growth. These results indicate that the Fe/InAs hybrid structures have definite potential for spin-related semiconductor devices with practical process sequences.